The scriptwriter of Bunty and Babli and I share a cosmic connection - we both love using the same opening line.
For close to a year now, I've started my rediff column on careers with a "there are two kind of people in the world" observation. And Abhishek a.k.a Bunty also jhaadoes philosophy with his "Ye world jo hai na... isme do tarah ke log hain..."
I'm not suggesting I own the copyright to that phrase - the idea's been around for a while now. I use it because it makes my job easier (the first line is always the hardest to write!)
Ironically, I've just written a column inspired by Bunty and Babli and for a change -I haven't used the line at all :)
I was in fact struck by something Bunty said to his dad, explaining why a secure and dull job (as a ticket collector) was not the thing for him.
"Aapki naukri mein na izzat hain, na mazza, aur na matlab". Isn't that what we all want from a career - and life in general. Read the rest of 'Career Lessons from Bunty aur Babli' here.
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ReplyDeleteI feel that matlab is more a function of time. Generally, money (or mazaa) is what attracts people first to any job, but it is only with time that they realize its matlablessness, if at all there is any. I guess we all have a Howard Roark inside us in varying proportions - a proportion which varies from 0 to 1. With time, we tend towards 1. At times matlab has an implicit risk factor attached to it, that's why it doesn't always go hand in hand with mazaa.
ReplyDeleteThat was my 2 cents on 'matlab'.
Izzat, mazza and matlab are great attributes to look for in any job. But my guess is that matlab and izzat take some time developing and if young people flip out of their jobs too rapidly, they will find it very difficult to build the body of work and experience that gets them respect and give their lives meaning.
ReplyDeleteI’d say, don’t jump jobs just because you can for small change. Remember when you were in college and school? There were difficult periods when you absolutely hated your peers, your teachers, your school and your situation. But there was no exit option. You knew that you had to work it out and prevail over the situation and surprise, surprise, those tough episodes are the ones you now look back on as character building events. You learned to cope, you learned to adapt, you obviously survived. Any which way, you grew as a person.
Ditto with difficult periods at your work place. If you start out with a mindset that I’m in this for the long haul, my guess is that you’ll approach problems with more creative alternatives that just wanting to flip out to another job that pays just a bit more. Just as in a marriage where the moment you say to yourself that the divorce court is not an option, you’ll try harder to make it work, similarly in a job, the moment you say to yourself that I need to make this work for the next few years, you’ll look for ways to grow and not jump. Izzat and matlab are guaranteed fallouts. Hopefully, you’ll also have some mazza.